


Sparkle in the Night

by PrincessMariana



Series: PM's Flufftober 2020 [4]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Bruce is a fairy king, Dick Grayson is a Ray of Sunshine, Fairies, Feels, Fluff, Flufftober, Flufftober 2020, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, No editting we die like robins, Nope no way, OF DARKNESS, barbie fairytopia definitely did not inspire this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:41:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26873854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessMariana/pseuds/PrincessMariana
Summary: Bruce, the literal fairy king of darkness, worries about his young fairy child's recent odd behavior. There is glittery, sparkly fairy dust everywhere.Written for Flufftober Day 5: Sparkle
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne
Series: PM's Flufftober 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1951447
Comments: 18
Kudos: 206
Collections: Flufftober2020





	Sparkle in the Night

**Author's Note:**

> This was way angstier than I had planned, but it's still fluff. I really wanted to give Bruce fairy wings. I've been watching waaaay too much Barbie Fairytopia movies lately. It's a bad influence.

Bruce landed in his thrown room, fully expecting a trail of sparkle and an attack on his legs, but for the first in weeks, the room stayed dark.

“Welcome home, your majesty. I trust tonight went well?” Alfred said.

“Yes,” Bruce said, distracted as he scanned the room for any sign of his young ward. “Just minor trouble at Clark’s borders…Alfred, where’s Dick?”

Bruce had no reason to worry, of course. Bruce’s fortress in the middle of the dark woods was the safest place that Dick could be, especially under Alfred’s keen watch.

“The young sir is asleep,” Alfred said.

“Is he feeling alright?” Bruce said. His wings were already beating as he prepared to fly Dick’s room.

“Yes, your majesty,” Alfred said. “He told me that he wished to adhere to his bedtime.”

“I see,” Bruce said, letting his feet fall back on the floor. A frown settled on his face.

“I would not think too much of it,” Alfred said. “He may simply be tired tonight. He spent the day with young Lord Wallace.”

As a member of the lightning royal fairy family, Wally had even more energy than most of his kind, and lightning fairies were known for their liveliness. But Dick had always refused to sleep until Bruce came home and tucked him in.

Bruce tried to ignore the ache in his heart. Soon enough, Dick would no longer live with them, and every night would be like this.

Before retiring for the night, Bruce quietly slipped into Dick’s room. Dick was curled up in the hammock Bruce had installed for him. Dick’s translucent, blue wings covered Dick like a thin blanket. Under the wings, Dick’s body glowed gently, barely illuminating the room. He was brighter when awake, but he always shined in the fortress’s darkness.

With one final look, Bruce left the room, silently shutting the door behind him.

+++

The next morning, Dick’s behavior continued to confuse Bruce. Bruce’s internal alarm woke him, instead a chattering young child. To make matters more worrisome, Dick hardly spoke at breakfast. He politely accepted the bowl of berries from Alfred and ate silently, eyes downcast. Even Alfred looked concerned.

“Is something wrong, chum?” Bruce asked.

When Dick looked up, his eyes were wide in alarm. “Um, n-no?”

Alfred gave Bruce a pointed look, but Bruce didn’t know how to proceed without scaring Dick further. Dick was always an open book about his feelings – and, well, everything else. Despite Bruce’s natural desire for solitude, he had come to enjoy Dick’s endless talking.

“I heard that you spent time with Wally yesterday,” Bruce said, in the hopes that that would prompt Dick into babbling about some story or another.

“Yes, sir,” Dick said, his eyes lowering back to his food bowl. He poked at his berries.

Dick never called Bruce ‘sir’, or any formal address, and he never, ever picked at his food. Something was terribly wrong. “What did you do together?” Bruce asked. The question should elicit more than a yes or no answer.

“We, um, played tag around the big, dark oak,” Dick said.

“You were in the dark forest _alone_?” Bruce said.

He knew that Alfred had been busy yesterday, so Bruce had assumed that Dick would go to the lightning kingdom, under the careful watch of Wally’s family. While the fortress was very safe, the dark woods that Bruce presided over were not.

From the way Dick’s wings drooped and Alfred glared at Bruce, that had been the wrong thing to say. “I’m-I’m sorry,” Dick said miserably. “Can I be excused?”

“I…” Bruce was at a loss for words, so he nodded. He watched his ward quickly fly away, back to his room. Aside from sleeping, Dick never willing spent time in his room.

“Did he seem…dimmer than usual?” Bruce asked Alfred when Dick was out of earshot.

“Yes, and he didn’t finish his breakfast,” Alfred said.

“Do you think he’s sick?” Bruce said. “Should I bring Leslie? Maybe he hurt himself yesterday? Or something attacked him? Why was he in the woods alone? I’ve told him so many time-”

“Your majesty,” Alfred cut in. “It perhaps would be best if you asked him before jumping to conclusions.”

“I did ask him!” Bruce protested and stood. “I need to find Wally and find out what happened yesterday.”

“An invasion of privacy would upset him further,” Alfred said, frustratingly calm.

“Then what should I do?” Bruce demanded. His wings fluttering in irritation.

“Talk to him.”

+++

There was no bright trail for Bruce to follow, but Dick was still in his room by the time Bruce gathered the resolve for a confrontation. He wouldn’t leave Dick alone until he knew what was wrong. If Dick was hurt or ill, Bruce needed to know immediately.

Bruce knocked on the already-open door and stepped. Dick was on the floor with his back against the walls. His knees were pulled to his chest, and his wings cocooned his small body. He didn’t look up when Bruce sat next to him.

Alfred had given Bruce strict instructions to start the conversation gently, but Bruce couldn’t help saying, “Your sparkle is gone.”

Dick flinched, and his wings tightened around him. “Not really,” Dick said. “I’ve been trying, but it isn’t working.”

Bruce and Alfred were night fairies. Unlike every other type of fairy, they did not emit any light. Dick was a sparkle fairy. In addition to glowing, sparkle fairies constantly gave off sparkle, made of glittery fairy dust. They left trails of it wherever they went. Even in Bruce’s kingdom of eternal darkness, Dick’s sparkle was bright.

Or it had been.

“You can’t sparkle anymore?” Bruce said. Was the dark wood hurting Dick somehow? Limiting him?

“N-no,” Dick said, sniffling. “I-I can’t make it _stop_.” As if to demonstrate, a poof of sparkle came off Dick’s wings. “It hurts, Bruce.”

“You’re trying to contain your sparkle?” Bruce said slowly, the pieces coming together. “Dick, _why_?”

Dick’s wings suddenly unfurled, and Dick launched himself at Bruce with a loud wail. “D-don’t make m-me leave. I d-d-don’t w-wanna l-l-l-leave,” Dick sobbed into Bruce’s chest.

Bruce rubbed Dick’s back comfortingly and held him close. While Dick cried, Bruce whispered reassuring words and did his best to soothe him. More and more puffs of sparkle come off Dick as Dick’s tenuous control of it broke. Soon, the room was illuminated with all the sparkle Dick had been holding back for who knows how long.

Eventually, Dick stopped shaking. “I’m – I’m sorry,” Dick mumbled against Bruce’s shoulder.

“You don’t need to apologize for anything, chum,” Bruce said. “It must have hurt a lot to contain your sparkle.”

Dick nodded and looked up at Bruce with large, watery eyes. “It hurt _so bad_ , but I tried to be good. Wally and I practiced yesterday. That’s why we were a-alone in the woods.”

“Did Wally put you up to this?” Bruce asked. He had thought Barry’s nephew would be a _positive_ influence on Dick. It felt like Bruce kept making mistake after mistake with Dick.

“N-no,” Dick said. “It was my idea.”

He hid his face in Bruce’s chest again. Bruce gently stroked Dick’s hair. “Tell me why, chum,” he said softly.

“Wally said you’ve been t-talking to Barry about where I should l-live, and he told me I should stay with them,” Dick said miserably. “I know I d-don’t belong here, because I’m l-loud and g-get sparkle everywhere and I w-waste your time. I was trying to be better so you wouldn’t make me leave. _Please_ don’t send me away.”

Bruce’s heart broke. “Oh, sweetheart,” he murmured. “You don’t have to go anywhere you don’t want to.”

Dick looked up again. “Promise?”

“I swear on my life that the fortress will be your home for as long as you want it,” Bruce said sincerely.

“But – but Wally said-”

“While you are always welcome here,” Bruce said, “I didn’t think that you would want to stay. Not many fairies like to live among night fairies, especially in the dark woods. Since you enjoy Wally’s company, I spoke to Barry about the possibility of you living with them.”

“Oh.” Dick studied Bruce’s face, as if looking for any sign of falsehood. “So you don’t care I’m loud and sparkle everywhere?”

“You’re the farthest thing from a nuisance,” Bruce said, his voice gruff with suppressed emotion. There was more he should add to that, but he couldn’t form the words. “The lightning fairy kingdom has sunlight and fairies your age. Are you sure that you want to stay here?”

“Of course I wanna stay! You’re here, and Alfred and-and the big, dark oak, and my hammock. I love living here.”

“Good,” Bruce said. “You can stay, then, on one condition – never fight your nature again. It’s dangerous to hold in your sparkle for too long. Understand?”

Dick nodded furiously, sparkle falling from his hair at the movement. “I understand!” He snuggled in closer, eyes fluttering closed. The exhaustion from the tears and the high emotions were hitting the small fairy. “I love you, B.”

It took Bruce a long moment – and a quick breathing exercise – to gently respond, “I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> ...and then soon after, this sparkle child becomes the official prince of the night fairies, and all the other fairy rulers find this adorable. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed! Let me know in the comments if I should continue writing in this strange au, and if y'all have any additional ideas. Kudos and comments make me smile! :)


End file.
